I've been riding the 14m and 7m 2013 switchblades for awhile now and I'm really liking them.

I have noticed when I pull the IDS on the kite it stays leading edge down and pulling on the water (not really any different from as if I was still hooked in). On my older 2012's the kite would roll on to its back and have very little pull when the ids was pulled. Which was nice IMO.

I'm just kinda wondering if this feature was lost somehow in the new design or if maybe there was a good reason for getting rid of it that I am not aware of OR if I possibly have something out of tune.

I'd appriciate it if anyone else with these kites could chime in on your experience.

when my 14m SB is on the water it pulls real hard so it worries me a little that I can't really flag the kite out the way it is currently setup. If I can't figure something out soon I'll probably mod my bar to setup a single front line flagging system.

On the bright side my 2013 14m is way way way easier to relaunch then my old 2012 12m was in light wind.

Sounds like it's is time to fiddle with the 14 and make sure you figure out how to use the IDS.

I've taught a lot on 2012s but have not had the chance to engage the ids on a 2013 yet. I remember often times just talking to my students about how the ids will work with the kite on the water. I would pop the QR and the kite would take a long time to flag out or would require some coaxing (pushing the bar up the IDS line to slack the rear lines enough).

I found it was easier and quicker to have the kite under load and pop the QR. The bar slide outs all the way with no effort on my part and the kite flags out faster than if the kite is on the water in relaunch position.

Try this and/or pushing the bar out. Better make sure it works well before you might need it to work flawless when you are in an emergency on your smaller kite.

Had this problem when standing in shallow water showing a self rescue. If there is tension in the front lines it will sometimes sit nose down and pull. If you walk towards the kite, or in the other case swim to take out the tension the ids should activate and the kite will roll over.

Yesterday it was during a drift launch. After everything tensioned up, a steering line appeared to be wrapped around the mains weird so I tried to just pull in some of the front lines to take the power off the kite so I could sort it out but it just kept pulling. I tried walking towards the kite but I guess I didn't walk towards the kite fast enough?

I know I could get it on its back eventually, I'm just surprised how much harder it is now compared to the 2012 models which seemed to just immediately fall on their backs when the IDS was pulled.

The 2013 appears to fly more like a typical bridled kite IMO. In other words, you can get it to fall on its back and depower but its certainly not automatic anymore from what I have experienced.

C. Johnson,If you are in shallow water where you can stand and you want to do a self land/rescue, you in some cases ( usually light winds) will need to take a couple quick steps towards your kite once activating the QR1 and sliding the bar up the entire length of the IDS line at the same time ... The self land/rescue process with the IDS system, IMO has been the same since the first release of the 2009 IDS. Been flying mainly the SBs and go through the self rescue/land process all the time in both shallow and deep water. The IDS system works great in all wind conditions (ie super light to super strong winds). Saying that, it is very important to fully understand the process and that goes for any system.. If you activate the QR1 when the kite is sitting on the edge of the window (ensure your down wind area is clear and safe) take a step or two towards the kite if the kite does not flip automatically (as you slide bar to the end of the IDS line)and then the kite will roll on its back, take off in a depowered state and flip over leading edge down in the downwind area(note in some rare cases the SB will float on back which is not a big issue). At this point the kite is now completely out cold and the standard wrap up process is then applied. Good luck and hope this helps.

IWB2 wrote:C. Johnson,If you are in shallow water where you can stand and you want to do a self land/rescue, you in some cases ( usually light winds) will need to take a couple quick steps towards your kite once activating the QR1 and sliding the bar up the entire length of the IDS line at the same time ... The self land/rescue process with the IDS system, IMO has been the same since the first release of the 2009 IDS. Been flying mainly the SBs and go through the self rescue/land process all the time in both shallow and deep water. The IDS system works great in all wind conditions (ie super light to super strong winds). Saying that, it is very important to fully understand the process and that goes for any system.. If you activate the QR1 when the kite is sitting on the edge of the window (ensure your down wind area is clear and safe) take a step or two towards the kite if the kite does not flip automatically (as you slide bar to the end of the IDS line)and then the kite will roll on its back, take off in a depowered state and flip over leading edge down in the downwind area(note in some rare cases the SB will float on back which is not a big issue). At this point the kite is now completely out cold and the standard wrap up process is then applied. Good luck and hope this helps.

I feel like what you just explained and what actually happens are two entirely different things. Unless you were just talking about 2012 and older switchblades. Then it would make perfect sense. From what I have experienced 2013 is very different in this aspect.

I really don't need to have someone explain to me how an IDS works. I've been kiting for 6 years and used the IDS safety plenty of times. In fact I'm so good at using the IDS that I can actually reassemble the overly complicated release, it in deep water! Which is something not many people can do.

I just want to know why, what did work on 2012 and older switchblades now no longer works on the 2013 models.

C Johnson,I too am using the 2013 SB as well, and for me the IDS process and reaction when activating the QR1 is just like the 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009. I have not encounter the issues you have noted as of yet. Were the winds really light for the kite size you were using? If you did everything you are meant to do for a self land, then it is really surprising as to why the kite did not flip on its back. Resetting the QR1 in deep water is actually easy enough as you mention, maybe not as easy as the 2011 and earlier QR1 system which you could reset with your eyes closed. Best of luck working this one out. Maybe someone else can assist.

Why are you activating the IDS? I have used a safety leash maybe 5-6 times in 14 years. Each of those times there have been potentially life threatening things going on. It's not something I would consider as a normal activity.

When I self land in very strong conditions I pull the centre line by hand, which has a similar effect to activating the IDS. In some cases the kite will roll over and hover upside down. It's not a problem but it is a minor nuisance. I much prefer it when the kite sits nose down, which is the normal parked position.

OzBungy wrote:Why are you activating the IDS? I have used a safety leash maybe 5-6 times in 14 years. Each of those times there have been potentially life threatening things going on. It's not something I would consider as a normal activity.When I self land in very strong conditions I pull the centre line by hand, which has a similar effect to activating the IDS. In some cases the kite will roll over and hover upside down. It's not a problem but it is a minor nuisance. I much prefer it when the kite sits nose down, which is the normal parked position.

Activating the QR or IDS, then wrapping the safety line around the back of the bar till you reach the rest of the lines, then wrapping all of the lines on the front of the bar is the safest method to self rescue/land and the quickest way to redeploy your kite without tangles, we use this method to self land and drift launch often. Leaving lines slack is potentially a dangerous situation, especially in high winds.Cabs IDS system provided it works is the best for this type of use and is why we have purchased Cabs in the past. Concerning to hear reports that it does not work well on their 2013 kites.